Extent of unemployment in 2002

Some 2.7 million individuals who had looked for a job did not work at all in 2002, up from 2.0 million a year earlier. Of the 14.1 million persons who worked during the year and also experienced unemployment, 22.8 percent had two or more spells of joblessness, down from 24.7 percent in 2001.

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. Find out more in "Work Experience of the Population in 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-911.